


Excalibur

by thelittlebane



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Childhood, Children, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-29
Updated: 2014-03-29
Packaged: 2018-01-17 10:19:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1383877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelittlebane/pseuds/thelittlebane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>DISCONTINUED! (Sorry</p>
            </blockquote>





	Excalibur

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was going to be something else, but as I plotted out their life before that happened, visions of tiny Prince Marco and his new friend Jean took over my thoughts and thus I planned out a whole fic of their kiddie shenanigans. 
> 
> Hope you like it!

The sun filtered through the trees in long slants. Every shade of green was more vibrant than one could imagine. Chirps and titters of the animals echoed through the thin spaces of the rough bark. The little boy peered from behind the rocks, calculating his next move. It must be careful so as to not disturb the other living creatures and give away his ingenious hiding spot. His dirty, calloused hands gripped the gray stones tight before leaping over them and--

\--promptly falling on his behind. 

“ _Ow!_ ” His yelp erupted from him louder than intended. A hand clapped over his mouth and his widened eyes scanned the area around him. _I hope no one heard that._ Not that anyone would be out here. The woods he was shuffling through were just outside the walls of the grand castle in Jinae. It’d been a long journey from Trost to there, but Jean had made it well enough. He was now seriously fatigued and ravenous, hence the stalking of the old castle. He planned on sneaking in through the back servants doors and finding reprieve in there. He'd have to be extra careful to not get caught of course. 

There was a crunching sound then, someone stomping over the leaves and twigs. It was too big to be an animal, Jean thought, so it must be another person! Quickly, he got up and ran to the nearest set of bushes and crouched low behind them. A few seconds later, another child came crashing through the trees. A wicked smile curved his lips and his mischievous giggled floated through the air. Jean looked over him with great curiosity. It was apparent that he lived in the castle; his clothes, though plain and used for playing, looked silk and were in good condition. His hair looked soft from being washed regularly. His face only had the slightest smattering of dirt across the apples of his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, but other than that, he looked clean. 

Jean leaned forward on the balls of his feet to try to get a better look at the boy, but he lost balance and flailed his arms before falling through the bushes. They weren't as think as he originally thought. It was silent in that section of the woods, not even the pair's breathing could be heard. Jean laid face down in the dirt, hoping the other boy would just leave. Of course that wasn't the case and footsteps crunched their way over to Jean. There was a sharp pressure in the middle of his shoulder blades, once, twice. "Are you okay?" 

Jean lifted his head finally to look up at the other. The kid had a concerned look on his face and a stick in his hand. Jean rolled over and got up to face him. He rubbed his dirty hands across the thighs of his pants, nodding his head. "Yes, I'm fine." He was kind of wondering if he should bow since he saw the people in the square do that when the royals passed by and he had to be someone important in the castle. "Do you live there?" He jerked his thumb at the enormous structure. 

The other beamed a smile. "Yup! My momma and papa are the queen and king." 

Jean's eyes widened. "So that means you're the prince?" He got an enthusiastic nod. "Wow!" He grinned. "I'm Jean, what's your name?"

"Marco." Jean bowed like he saw other people do when the royals passed by. “Oh you don’t have to do that.” Jean straightened to see Marco’s face go a little red. The tiny spots of dirt on his face were enhanced by the blush. Jean’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“But you’re a royal and that’s how I thought you were supposed to be nice to royals.” He was honestly confused. 

Marco gave a small smile. “Yeah, but people only to that to my mom and dad. I’m not that important yet.” 

“What? A prince seems pretty important to me.” Jean grinned at him. He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, hands still tucked behind his back. The expansive castle in the background caught his vision, making him wonder what it was like inside the walls. He imagined all sorts of things could go on.

“Hey,” Marco suddenly called, pulling Jean out of his thoughts. “You wanna play a game?”

“What game?”

“Hide-and-Seek?”

“Sure!”

A small squabble later and Jean was decidedly “it,” with a little grumbling from Marco. He knelt down against the rocks and covered his hands with his eyes and began the count. “One, two, three…” He heard the rustling of leaves as Marco ran off to find his perfect hiding place. He rattled off the numbers loud enough for Marco to hear wherever he went. Finally-- thirty seemed like a good number to stop at-- he sprung up from his place at the rocks and shouted, “Ready or not, here I come!” and set off toward the trees.

For the seeker, playing in the woods was a disadvantage; there were so many things to hide behind. It could take hours if the person hiding found a good enough spot. Luckily for Jean, he was an excellent seeker. He paused every so often, listening for a noise to give away Marco’s position. He looked behind tall trees and under the fallen ones, in the bushes, behind the rocks. He came to a spot after a few minutes, twigs snapping under his feet, and heard a giggle. A wicked smile stretched his mouth. _Gotcha._

Trying as hard as he could, Jean tiptoed over the crunchy leaves and tiny sticks in the direction he thought Marco to be in. There was a large boulder sitting in the middle of a small clearing and he slowly crept around it so as to not give away his presence. Sure enough, Maro was squatting there, curled in on himself to try not to make noise. He wasn’t doing a very good job, though. Jean stepped closer and slowly brought a hand down on Marco’s shoulder while yelling “Found you!”

Marco jumped up with a yelp of his own and whirled around to face a now guffawing Jean. He pouted for a moment, lips twitching to fight the smile, but gave up in favor of chuckling along with him. “Guess now it’s my turn.” Jean’s eyes lit up and he took off before Marco could even begin counting.

The game went on for what seemed like hours, the pair taking turns being the hider and the seeker. There was laughter and screams that echoed through the tall trees, scaring small woodland creatures each time one of the boys barreled past. The sun moved across the sky as the time passed until it cast an orange glow in the western part of the woods. The two finally decided it was time to head back to the place they met, worn out as they were.

Once again, Jean gazed up at the massive castle and remembering his original plans of sneaking in. He felt somewhat guilty now since meeting Marco and seeing how kind he was. How could he steal from people like this?

“I suppose I should probably head back,” Marco stated, looking a bit sheepish. “I snuck out when my governess was busy with something else. She’s so strict about what I do all the time. I just wanted to play outside for a little while.”

Jean laughed softly. “Well, you got what you wanted.” His eyes caught on the little specs of dirt on Marco’s face again. They were still there? “You’ve got something on your face.” He indicated the area on his own face.

Marco rubbed his knuckles in the spot a moment. “Did I get it?” Jean shook his head and Marco repeated his action.

“Here,” Jean laughed and ran his thumbs across the dots. Nothing happened, though. “Huh. The little spots won’t come off.”

“Oh!” Marco started giggling again. “Those are my freckles, silly. My mom says they show up when I spend a lot of time in the sun. They’re supposed to be on my face.”

“Oh.” Jean’s face burned red with embarrassment. He’d never seen freckles before so he didn’t know about them.

Suddenly, Marco’s name was called from the direction of the castle. Their necks snapped to look at it before looking at each other. “Time to go.” Marco grinned widely and started jogging towards his home. “Bye, Jean!” He waved at the other boy before picking up speed and disappearing through the foliage.

Jean was left with a happy feeling inside him. Sure, he’d made a couple friends in town, but it didn’t feel quite like this. It felt a little more natural with Marco, easier. Now, he’d just have to find somewhere to sleep for the night.


End file.
